cushman



l s. 1). CUSHMAN. SIGNAL BOX FOR FIRE ALARM TELEGRAPH.

N0. 103,150. Patented May 17., 1870.

time cam.

EIRE ALARM COMPANY, OF LEETON A, 01 110.,

Letters Pit-tent No;'103,150,. dated May 17, 1870.

' minnow/imam" IN SIGNAL-Boxes non FIRE-ALARM TELEGRAPHS.

'The s oliedulefiet'erred to in th'ese Letters Patent and making partofthe same To all whom may concern:

a New Lisbon,"Columbiana count Qhi'o, have invented: certain new and; useful Improvements in 1 Signal-boxes for Fire-alarm Tel'egraphs; and that the following, is. full, clear, and exactspecification thereof.

.Natarc and ob aa of the Invention.

The first part of my invention relates. to the constrnction 0t? a winding-lever for an automatic firealarm apparatus, with-a handle or knob of a. sufficient length to extend through a slotfin the inner door of tliesignabbox when closed, by means. of which said winding-lever may beseparated from the outside of said inner door, whereby the use of any sliding. or rotating actnatorsecnred on the inner door, and actuating.thewindingdever is dispensed with, and: the: dangenof bending the windingdever' in. shutting the in'nerdooriswholly obriated. T hesecondpart of? my invention relates: to the construction. of a winding lever for an automatic firealarm apparatus, with a knob or handle extending through a slot-in, the inner door of the box, and with .a covering-piece working close up to or against said inner door when closed, and covering the slot in said door, through; which the said knob or handle projects, for the; purpose of keeping dust and dirt from blowing into said slot.

The third part of my intention relates-" to the I construction of a signal-box for fire-alarm 'telegraphs, with an: automatic fire alarm apparatus, and with a switch mechanism, so: constructed and arranged as that the shutting of the outer door of the signalboxswitches the electrot-magnets out of; the telegraph circuit, but leaves the automatic mechanism in' the circuit,- whereby the persongiving the. alarm can close the: signal-box alter drawing up the' antomatic mechanism, and leave it before the alarm is completed, whenever it; is necessary, and still have theelectro-magne'ts switched 'ont when the signalbox is closed, thus eflecting a great saving of battery power, and protecting the electro-magnet-s from injury by atmospheric electricity.

Description of Accompm'q tngDra/w'ings. Figure: 1 is. a front view ofasignal-box, embodying my invent-ion, with both'doors open.

Figure 2 is a side View of the same, with the inner door closed, and" one, side of the box cutaway.

Figure 4 is a plan of the same, withboth doors closed, and the top of the box cut away.

Figures. 5 areelevation, side view, and plan of wim.- ing-lever, with knob and covering piece.

attached to it the cord 0, which 7 pulleyK'on the shaft 3, and has the weight-P atbreaking the circuit by drawing Figure 6 is a side view of the switch device.

General Description. A represents the box-flame," which may be' rnade in:

I any suitable: form, and of wood or metahfodndde- Sil'itbl; v

The inner door 0' is'hinged onthe boxlA, a little i back of the outer door D, as shown in figs. 2 and 4,

and the back B is conveniently made separate from l the frame A, so that: ittnay be easily removed for repairing the automaticmechanism The posts V V V are secured. in the hack B, and

have theplate F secured at their: other-ends, and

the shafts 1, 2, and 3, are jonrnaled'in saidback and plate, as shown- The 'gear-seci'orJ is secnred'onrthe' shaft 1', and

meshes into the pinion I on the shaft 2,. on which shaft is also secnredthe circuit-wheel H. I

shaft 1, and has 'lhepulley Q, is secured to the passes up over the tached' atits end, as shownt The key G is journaled on a standard, 0, in the plate F, and has the pin 0 secured in its upper end, which pin is pressed against a pin in the standard f, secured in the plate F, by the action of a spiral spring 1 attached to the key G and to the pin (I, as shown in fig 1.

, Pins are arranged in the face of the circuit wheel 11in a manner depending on the particular signal required, and a sliding rod with beveled lower end is arranged-in the key G, so that, as the circuit-wheel H is revolved from left to right by the movement of I the gear-sectorJ,f101n right to left in drawing up the,

weight P, the pins in the circuit-wheel H strike the beveled endo't' the sliding rod in the key G and raise it up, so as; to allow of their passing said rod withont vibrating said key, and thus breaking the circuit, while in the automatic rotation of the circuit-wheel H, from right to left by the action of the weight P, the pins'in said circuit-wheel strike the'square side of the-rod in the key G, thus vibrating said key, and the pin 0 back from the pin in the standard 1; as is readily seen I Stop-pins q q are secured in the. back B for the purpose of limiting the movement of the gear-sector J i and consequently the rotations of the circuit-wheel H.

The general construction of this automatic mechanism is the same-as that shown in Letters Bateut' granted to Alexander Allen, for an improved auto- Figure 3 is a front View of the same, with inner door closed.

matic fire-alarm apparatus, on the 1st day of June,

1869, andbearing No. 90,806, to which, reference is' 1 made for a more complete description.

Thefront end of the shaft 1 extends through the plate I, out to the inner door 0', and on itis secured the windinglever l The slot U is cut in the door 0, and is otfithe same curvature as that of the circle described by the end of the winding-lever K, the center of its circle of curvature being in the axis of the shaft 1, as is readily seen,

In ordento operate the winding-lever K when the inner door (3' is closed, I secure the knob 0r handleL in the end of the lever K, and make it of a sufiicicnt length, so that it shall project through the slot U in the inner door 0, as seen in figs. 2 and 4, so that, by grasping said knob on the outside of the door 0, the lever K can be drawn mechanism, as is readily seen. v

To prevent dust and dirt from blowing into the slot U of the inner door G, I secure the covering plate M to the inner side of the winding-lever K, as shownrin fig. 5, said plate being formed to the same curve as that of the slot V, and working close up to the inner door 0, as shown in figs. 2 and 4, so that it completely covers the slot V, as shown in fig. 3.

This plate is conveniently made of brass or any east metal, or it can be cutfrom sheet metal, if preferred, and flanges may be formed along its edges, as shown in section M in 5, to give it considerable lateral stitiness, so as to prevent it from being bent, and thus injuring its peid'ect contact with the door 0.

The clectro-magnct-R in secured on the standard r on the bottom of the box A, and hasar'ranged with, it the pivoted armature S, provided with a tensionspring, and controlled by screws in the standard T in an ordinary manner.

The screw-cups E E, in which are secured the ends of the main circuit wire, are arranged in the upper part of the back B as shown, and an insulated wire connects the screw-cup E with the pin 0 in the key G.

An insulated wire connects the standard 1, with one end of the wires on the electro-magnets It, at 12, and 3 the other end, if, of the wire on saidelectro-magnets j is connected by an insulated wire with the screw-cup E, said insulated connecting wires being indicated by dotted .lines in fig;1, tl'om which it is seen that when no switches are in operation the electric circuit through the box is from the tcrew-cup E, through the auto- 1 matic key mechanism'o f and electro-magnets It, to the screw-cup E, so that, if the automatic mechanism be put in operation, the electrical circuit will be broken, as required, to transmit the required signal, and the electro-magnet R, with its armature S, will indicate, by its audible action to the operator, whether the circuit is in working order, and whether the signal is being properly transmitted. M In order to switch the electro-maguets out of the circuit by the closing of the door, I securethe elastic plate It anvil n, which is connected by an insulated wire with the standard f, as shown in fig. 1.

The rod 2 issecured to the plate It, and passes through a hole in the bracket m, which is secured on the frame A A, and the push-knob X is secured on -the outer door D, and shuts through a hole, I), in the inner door 0 against the rod 1, as shown in fig. 4, thus 1 ii Witnesses :1

' JOB ABBOTT, AL X. ALLEN,

pressing .the plate k against the anvil u when the outer door D is closed.

From this description it is seen that when the outer back to-wind up the automatic door D is opened the plate It springs away from the anvil it, thus opening the switch and causing the.current to traverse the circuit E 42 f1) t E, and bringing both the automatic mechanism and electro-magnets into the main circuit; but, if the outer door door D be closed, the switch will be closed, and the current will traverse theshorter circuit E e f at 7015, thus cutting the electro-magnets'out of the circuit, and leaving the automatic mechanism in said circuit, as is readily seen.

It is also evident that the same plan of switching out the electro-maguets only could be used in boxes provided with a mechanical or key-operating mechanism, instead of .anautomatic mechanism; but that in such cases it would be of little use, as the operating mechanism would only operate when the door 'was' open, so that the mechanism could be manipulated by the operator, so that it might as well be out of as in the circuit when the door was closed.

I am aware that switches have been applied to 'sigunder the screw-cup E, and place under it the nal boxes which were operated by the closing of the ft door of the signal-box; hence, I lay no claim to the application of a switch to a signal-box, nor to operati log the same by the door of the box, except when said switch is so arranged as to switch out the electro-magnet-s, and leave the operating mechanism in i the circuit by the closing of the door, as is herein shown; nor do I claim the coyering-piece forco'veriug the slot in the inner door, except when the same is secured to the winding-lever, as is herein shown.

Claims.

l That I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- 1. Extcnding'theknob or handle L of the winding- 1 lever K of an ,automatic fire alarm mechanism through the slot- U irr'the inner door 0 of the signal box, for the purpose of enabling the opera-tor to grasp i said knob or handle on the outside of the door 0, and 5 thus operatethe winding lever, substantially as is herein specified. i 2.'The covering-piece M, secured on the windinglever K, and operating in connection with the slot U in the door 0, substantially as is herein specified. 3Q The combination ot' the screw-cup E, anvil n,

electrical circuit through the automatic apparatus f G H, spring k, screw-cup E, rod 1, and outer'door D, with push-knob X, the several parts being arranged substantially as and for the purpose specified.

" 4. A si'gnat-box for fire-alarm telegraphs, provided with suitable operating mechanism'and with a switch mechanism, so constructed and arranged as that the closing of the outer door ot'-the signal-box acts to switcli the electromagniats out of the main circuit, 1 butlea-v'es the operating mechanism in said circuit, whether said operating mechanism be or be not autonlatic, as is hereinbefore specified:

, As evidence of the foregoing,- witness my hand if this 23d day of March,11870.

t electrically connected with the screw-cup E by an l s. D. "oosHMAN. 

